Kukla's Korner Hockey

The Tennessean’s Joshua Cooper captured a few comments from Nashville Predators GM David Poile and coach Barry Trotz regarding the team’s staggering 15 RFA or UFA players, and while the more thought-out message-sending statements from coaches and GM’s tend to wait for locker room clean-out day, my goodness, did Poile say it all about two, if not more, of his potential roster subtractions:

“I suspect by virtue of this business, we’ll have a lot of changes next year, but the thing I believe in and hope that we can retain the most is the foundation that we have,” Poile said. “You look around at some of the players that maybe have unrestricted free agency. (There are) some players that may not want to come back, and we may not want them. But having said that, I hope the core wants to stay here and that we can retain them because we have a core that can compete with anybody.”

Coach Barry Trotz said he’s confident the core will return, but was a little vague when asked if that core meant all-star defensemen Ryan Suter and Shea Weber. Suter is a potential unrestricted free agent and Weber is a potential restricted free agent.

“I can’t speak for (Suter and Weber),” Trotz said. “Let them talk about that. But I believe we’re in a good position that everybody will be back, absolutely. And I think they believe in the group.”